Rain Rain...Come Again Another Day

One of my fun adventures for this spring has been getting my Christmas present from Leah setup.  Yes, Leah got me a rain barrel since she knows me so well.  Plus it was her way of compromising me getting a rain barrel and her having one she thinks looks good and matches the house.  This has been one of my favorite most rewarding project this spring because of the immediate reward. I am just amazed at how much water I can collect from a little bit of rain. If it is a dreary day with light rain on and off, I will go from empty to full by the end of it.  It then takes me at least a week to drain it with watering my garden (which it has rained so often this spring that I have never run dry).

Our rain barrel and watering cans.  I love Adah's elephant!

So, now for the details of the process.  First off, Leah bought me the 60 Gallon Smart Garden collapsable rain barrel for Christmas so we could take it down during the winter. Find it on Amazon here for more information. After I installed the rain diverter by sawing a horizontal cut and two vertical cuts in the downspout I placed the rain barrel on the ground.  However, I discovered that the rain barrel needs a little height in order to have pressure so we drained it in a hurry before a rain and put them on blocks and 2x12's. Now we certainly have enough pressure to fill our watering cans and could possibly even do an irrigation line to the garden despite it sitting about the same height of the barrel.

Our future projects include draining the barrel this week (I disconnected the diverter) so that I can dig up the grass, level, and lay stone down to eliminate the grass and make it even more sturdy.  I would love to add a few more barrels in the future like my friend Rhett did but one thing at a time.

Yep, it's full after one rain!